Bored!
by Proponent of EVO
Summary: Clark Kent is a bored man. Lois Lane is a bored woman. Highjinks will probably not ensue. Please R & R.
1. Chapter 1

_My first fic in a while. Trying to shake the cobwebs out. Be gentle with the reviews._

**Disclaimer: Justice League is not mine, though, who knows, maybe one day.**

**Bored!**

_Chapter 1, wherein our protagonist is really bored._

Clark Kent was **bored**. Really bored. Sitting at his desk, staring at his computer monitor, he idly wondered if he'd ever been this bored.

He thought back to when he had been stuck on a deep space mission to sector 3599. He and Green Lantern had gone to assist Kyle Rayner, another Green Lantern, in dispatching what Kyle had described as "a giant alien space-mantis-thing" which was bent on swallowing a planet in the vicinity. There were only 3600 sectors in the universe, and to Clark's mind, the reason for this was that whatever creator of the universe there was, he started running out of stuff at about sector 2000. All that there was in 3599 was a planet and some stray molecules. 3600 was just a empty vacuum. Beyond that, not even the Lantern's knew. (1)

Between the three of them, they had dispatched the beast, but the ship they had used broke down halfway back, forcing John to fly the two the rest of the way. It was an eighteen hour trip to Oa, for John to recharge his ring, and another seven back to Earth.

He weighed the two situations in his mind, and found that his current situation was wanting, though _just _barely.

He looked over to Lois Lane's desk, to see his friend (girlfriend?) trying to balance a pencil on her nose. She would put the pencil on her nose, and it would roll off. On, then off.

Again and again. It was sort of hypnotic. After about five minutes of this:

"Lois?" He called.

"Yeah, Clark?" She replied, still attempting to balance the pencil.

"You remember ever being this..." The Pulitzer prize winning journalist hedged, "...bored?" _I have nine million awards, and bored is the best I can do?_

Immediately, "Nope. I have never, ever been this bored in my entire life. Not even when you tried to demonstrate how to tie a dutch twist knot, have I been this bored. Not even when you explained how to light a fire in the wilderness using a flint, was I even close to how bored I am now."

"You mean my amazing boy scout abilities don't...amaze you?" He asked in mock horror.

"Not in the least, Smallville." She quipped, good-naturedly.

"Well, I must say, I am outraged, and I am leaving, good miss!" With that mock outburst, he grabbed his coat and hat, and started off. _Heh, Alfred impression for the win. Boy Scout 1, Lois 0._

"Where are you going?"

He stopped. "Home, probably. I already filed my story with Perry, so I guess I could just take an early day, maybe cook an early dinner...why, you want to come along?" He asked, a cheeky smile on his face.

Lois laughed at the utterly un-Clark-like look, and said, "Lemme grab my coat, and tell Perry we're going."

She grabbed her trademark purple coat, and leaned into Perry's office. "Perry, me and Clark-"

"Are leaving, yeah. I'm gonna get out of here soon too. Have fun, you two." Lois smiled, and leaned back out of the office, as Perry light up his last cigar of the day. He never smoked them at home; they stunk up the place, and the odor was a pain to get rid of. Here at the _Planet_ though, he liked to walk around the building, enjoying his cigar. He didn't care about the smell; it wasn't his _house_, was it?

He wondered how Lois hadn't figured out Clark's secret yet. Perry prided himself on the fact that he might have been the only person on the planet to have deduced that Clark Kent was Superman. (2) _She's a smart kid, how hasn't she figured it out yet? Unless_, and he gasped, because it was the most likely explanation, _she already knows and doesn't want him to know that she knows. Geez, its like 'Days of Our Lives' here._

_**Next chapter: Clark and Lois walking to his apartment, and a meeting with a certain Manhunter...**_

_**(1) Source Wall. Scary place. Wikipedia it.**_

_**(2) Batman figured it out in "The World's Finest".**_


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter two, just like the first!_

_Many thanks to my reviewers, _**Super Chocolate Bear****dragonchic**_, and _**Kasuchi**_! Thanks to the people who read this, and to Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, for making these characters dynamic. _

_Just saw the last episode of the season. Completely mindblowing. Full marks._

**Bored! - Chapter Two**

_Chapter 2, wherein our protagonist displays mad bantering skills._

The duo hurried out of the building, walking down Fifth Street toward Clark's apartment. Spring had begun to rear its head in Metropolis, but that didn't mean it wasn't still cold. It meant that the sun would come out, but produce no warmth whatsoever, as though it was taunting the freezing residents of the city.

For her part, Lois was glad she had forgone the usual skirt in favor of a smart pant-suit (of course, still with a purple coat, because some things just couldn't change); Clark, who really didn't need warmer clothing but did so in order to avoid any kind of disturbing questions, elected to wear a nondescript brown trench coat over his white button-down and black slacks. Tempting fate today, he decided to wear a tie with the infamous Batman logo on it (Dick had gotten it for him for Christmas, and, to Batman's credit, he only threatened Superman with _mild _Kryptonite poisoning when he'd first seen him wearing it).

The streets were full of citizens going about their normal lives, unaware that their greatest hero was walking among them, gabbing away with his friend (_girlfriend?_) Lois Lane.

"...and that is reason #62 as to why I am a better writer than you." She finished, a satisfied grin on her face.

"What really gets me is that you had time to enumerate 62 different reasons as to why you think you are better than I am, and then order them in terms of strongest versus weakest argument, and then memorize them!" Far from seeming insulted, it seemed Clark was genuinely amazed that she had actually thought this through. He was also somewhat flattered, and let it show through in his tone.

She fixed him with a coy grin. "Well, what can I say, Clark, I was very bored, and you are an easy target."

"If you will allow me a counter argument?" He asked.

She nodded her assent, and he said, in a faux British voice, "It shall be brief, for I have only one point to make: I have two Pulitzers, and you don't." As an afterthought: "Nyah, nyah, nyah."

She glared daggers at him. "You're a cold man, Kent. Didn't think you had it in you."

The pair walked on, in silence: not the cold silence of two people who'd just had an argument, but the companionable silence of friends who needed no words to fill any awkwardness.

Clark, sensing this an apt time, slipped an arm over Lois' shoulders, mumbling that "it's just too darn cold out here."

Lois raised an eyebrow at the un-Clarkishness of the move, but didn't voice any opposition. I didn't think he had that in him either.

The two had walked in this way for a couple of minutes when a man in a brown trench coat and fedora brushed past the pair. Clark froze, and so did the man; under his breath, Clark whispered, "J'onn?" He'd hoped it was low enough so that Lois didn't hear.

Fat chance of that.

"John?" She asked. "Who? Him?" The stranger saw fit to finally turn around at this point, and Lois got a good look at him. What she first noticed about him was his height. Clark was one of the tallest men she knew, and this guy had about two inches on him. She looked at his face, and saw a completely average one staring back at her. It was as though it had been designed not to be called attention to.

"Clark. How are you?" the stranger asked, in a voice that seemed much deeper than a person should sound, and somehow abnormal.

"I'm fine, John," Clark said, careful not to use the alien pronunciation. "Why didn't you tell me you'd gotten into Metropolis? I could have set you up at a hotel, or you could have stayed with me." Clark's tone didn't indicate hurt, but surprise.

"Its quite all right, Clark. I'm only here for a day to set some affairs in order, then...I haven't the foggiest idea." A small smile found his lips. "Perhaps China."

He turned his attention to Lois. "And is this the Ms. Lane that I hear so much about?"

She smirked. "'So much about', eh? He talks about me?"

He laughed, a small chuckle. "Incessently. I used to think that the League meetings were just an excuse to talk about-"

Clark's eyes went wide, and J'onn stopped at once. "Clark, what is wrong?"

Clark mouthed at him, League meetings?

J'onn sent telepathically back, _Yes, the meetings. What are you-Ah_... A mental chortle sounded. _She knows, Kal. She's known for months, apparently; there's no need to dance around it._

"Really?" Clark asked, not meaning to voice the question aloud, but unable to stop himself.

The smile on the unreal face of the Martian, combined with the wide grin on Lois' face, gave Clark his answer.

"Just figured it out, Mr. Two-Pulitzers?"

**Good a place as any to end the chapter!**

**It was brought to my attention by a friend that there is no entry on Wikipedia for the Source Wall. Yeah. My bad.**

**Next chapter, Clark and Lois talk about secret identities, relationships, and food from the farm!**


	3. Chapter 3

Heh, so yeah - I decided, as part of my New Year's resolution, to finish the stuff I have left undone. That...and my girlfriend read this and told me she wouldn't touch me unless I made another chapter. So, in the interest of keeping the peace, here's another chapter to a story no one remembers! One more chapter after this, and it will be done.

* * *

The two said their goodbyes to J'onn, though not without Lois attempting to steal an interview with the Martian Manhunter. He'd always been reticent to give interviews, as enamored with his privacy as he was. He got away with a "Perhaps" to Lois, and an invitation to the farm from Clark.

"My folks have been wanting to see you again – although, be forewarned that Ma will probably say you look too skinny." Clark said, a smile in his eyes.

Clark and Lois continued down Fifth Street, towards Clark's brownstone apartment. They continued in silence, until Clark could no longer stand it.

"So..."

"So...?" She parroted, a huge smile on her face. "Have something to say, Clarkie-boy?"

He ignored that, continuing, "So...how long have you known?"

She smiled even wider. "Well, that's kind of hard to answer. I first suspected when I realized that you very often seemed to get to the story before me, but only if the stories involved something dangerous."

He winced, "Yeah. That probably wasn't too careful of me, huh?"

She laughed a bit. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Smallville. No one else would have noticed; we both come from the same paper, so people probably assumed we headed over in the same car."

Now curious, he pressed on. "What else? It couldn't just be that one clue."

"No, it wasn't just that. Do you remember that incident at the U.N. a year and a half ago?"

Clark blinked, remembering back. It had been the day of the press conference discussing a new resolution the United Nations had been considering, to impose sanctions on a rogue nation. A military force from that nation had decided to influence the U.N. by kidnapping a few committee heads. Clark and Lois had been on hand to cover the press conference when all hell broke loose.

As the soldiers stormed into the room, spraying gunfire, Lois called out for Clark, thinking to grab him and escape. He did not respond, but before her eyes she beheld Superman speeding through the room, disarming and then tying up the soldiers. The entire affair, from beginning to end, had taken less than twenty seconds.

"Now, Superman is fast. I know that. But Metropolis to New York, in that time? I'm sorry, Smallville, but aside from maybe the Flash – and that is a big maybe – no one is that fast. So. That's when I knew for sure."

Clark stopped walking, stunned. "Huh. I wouldn't have even thought about that. But it makes sense, doesn't it?" He looked at her as though in a new light.

She looked back, and saw the look of admiration in his eyes. "I won't deny that I was surprised when I figured it out, Clark. But I got over it eventually, and since then, whenever you use some kind of lame excuse to leave somewhere, I just...smile, I guess."

"Hey! Those excuses aren't lame, Lois. They're brilliant." Clark joked.

"Oh, sure, Smallville. I especially like the 'my-stomach-aches' gambit. Very believable."

"Hey now," Clark said, a smile in his eyes, "you don't know how often that got me out of class! Many were the days when my aching stomach saved the town!"

Lois chuckled, and then pointed up to the apartment building they'd stopped at. "Clark...you know your apartment is on the fourteenth floor, right?"

Clark nodded, not knowing where Lois was going with this.

"Well, I've always flown with Superman, and that's...nice. But I kinda want to see what flying with Clark would be like!" She laughed at the look on Clark's face as she asked.

"Lois..." He began.

"Now don't you 'Lois' me," she said, imitating Clark's baritone, "consider this repayment for four years of lies!"

Clark laughed. "Well, when you put it like that..."

Lois smiled at his acquiescence. "Alright! Into the alley, Cornfed!"

Clark rolled his eyes, following her into the alley next to his brownstone to make sure no one could see them. _Geez,_ he thought, _what am I getting into with this?_

But looking at Lois, he couldn't help but feel a bit of excitement.

* * *

Please read and review, I'm pretty rusty.


	4. Chapter 4

A three-year lay-off isn't that bad, right? Right. At least this one is getting finished and isn't consigned to the Well of Lost Fics. This is the last chapter, but I want to thank a) ANYONE who has actually kept on with this fic over its near seven year run and b) anyone who reads and reviews.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except this laptop, though I wouldn't have minded writing the second Blue Beetle.

For Clark, this was a liberating experience, to say the least. He didn't tell anyone this (except for dear old Ma Kent, who grumbled about a lack of gratitude for a job well done), but the costume was really tight.

He only wore it under his clothes half the time, after all; sometimes it was in a briefcase, sometimes in a special compartment on his belt that only he and Batman knew about. Once, he'd been convinced by Zatanna that she could magic it so that it would appear on him once keyed to a special word of power (he went with "rutabaga" because, why not?)

This made for an embarrassing episode on the Watchtower, once Zatanna had realized she had the ability to shut Superman's clothing off. On the other hand, whenever his costume had been summoned away, it would come back smelling delightful. After the fifth or six time he'd decided to never again comment on a female Justice Leaguer's costume ever again, even if it **was** a silly hat.

Sometimes, Clark didn't understand magic at all. However, sometimes, when he was with Lois and it was late and she gave him that _look_ – the _look_ that he'd never been able to put into words, not quite ("which, for a man of words, is a little humbling") – that _look_ that said she was so content just to be where she was at _that exact moment_…well, Clark began to understand magic. Or at least the appeal of three little magic words.

For Lois, seeing Clark in his civvies, looking so happy as he flew through the heavens, as much a creature of them as a bird, it was a joy to behold. She'd known for a while, but marveled at his acting ability. Granted, it was only two roles acted, and one role that was real.

"Clark Kent", the mild mannered reporter, who was so easy to talk to even as he bumbled and acted the fool. "Superman", the larger-than-life figure from another world. Both part-acts and part-real, but just shadows of the man she saw now, "her" Clark.

The Clark who brought her favorite soup when she was sick. The Clark who would fight her for by-lines as a game, because they were comfortable enough with each other now to know what the dance looked like. The Clark who never looked below Cat Grant's neck, even when she wasn't looking.

_Her_ Clark. And looking at him now, a boyish grin on his still-young face as he stared into her eyes, it was like seeing him for the first time.

Maybe another time or another place, he'd have been afraid to say it. Or Superman would have been needed elsewhere. Or any one of a number of problems could have popped up. But maybe, sometimes, life just wants us to be happy.

"Lois, I love you."

She smiled. "I know."

A beat, and he stared at her, mouth agape. "Did…did you just Han Solo me?"

Her answer was a laugh and a nod, and he kissed her. Maybe, as kisses go, it wasn't the greatest of all time. But there, in that moment, it was perfect. Eventually, she pulled back, and answered. "I love you too." His smile was like a 1000-Watt bulb as she came back in for a kiss.

_As far as magic words go, those are pretty great._


End file.
